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Topic Review (Newest First)

11-03-2003 12:27 AM

john232

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

windship: Here is the deal... The keel stub is completely in tact, The bolt holes are only a small bit bigger than they were originally, as far a fractures go, YES, there is no major structural fracturing around the stub or the hull and cabin sole,bilge area. I plan on working from the inside of the stub and grinding the laminate layers down to the bottom of the stub and then adding new backing support hardwood blocks, and glassing them in the appropriate areas and strenthening the laminate with kevlar and then vacumm bagging the area for a strong and even resin distribution and infusion. I do know what I am doing because I used to do simular type strenthening on Military and Coast Guard Choppers. The bolts on the keel did exactly what they were designed to do on SEVERE impact and that is break in half so the whole bottom of the boat is left in tact.

11-02-2003 04:18 AM

windship

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

john232,
You said the keel bolts were broken in half by the collision and there is no fracturing of the surrounding structure????

Dennis

10-27-2003 02:01 AM

Jeff_H

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

Your post is definitelt a case of I got good news and I got bad news. Congratulations, the good news is that the boat sounds like the boat in better shape than you hoped and I ahd feared. The bad news is that it is a Santana 30 which has very little resale value compared to a 30/30 and far less since it has wheel steering. The other bad news is that your original post suggested that you wanted to race this boat and considered it an equal to a J-30. The Santana 30 is not a competitive boat (especially with a wheel), and it is the 30/30 that is comparable to the J-30 in performance. You should probably try to set a budget around $8 to $10K for materials and outsourced labor and figure you will run over that budget by as much as 100% when you are all done. (Any more than that you can probably buy a better boat in near perfect shape).

A couple quick points here:
Engine: As soon as you can, drain the oil from the engine. Drain the fuel tank and remove the fuel filter so that dirty fuel cannot get into the engine. Put fresh oil in the engine, open the pressure relief valves, and turn the engine over by hand. Do that several times. With any luck, minimal water got to the upper end of the engine but that is probably not the case. In all likelihood you will need a full top and bottom rebuild. The parts for these engines are quite expensive and unless you are a good mechanic and can do all of your own work, it might make sense to just buy a rebuilt Volvo, Volvo short block, or Yanmar (I personally like Yanmars better).

Keel: There are several good sources but Mars Metals is generally considered the most reasonable and highest quality. You might want to see about getting them to produce a more efficient modern keel since you need to replace the keel anyway.

I would not support the boat on concrete blocks. Concrete blocks are not designed for point loads and have a habit of giving way suddenly.

Good luck,
Jeff

10-26-2003 11:46 PM

john232

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

My boat arrived on friday and all I can say is WOW.WOW.WOW. Here is my report. The Gelcoat is flawless through out the WHOLE boat. All chain plated are as good as new, strong dry NO water intrusion evidence what so ever. The mast and boom are in excellent condition, with a nice roller furling set-up all cars block ect are in great condition. The sails are all in VERY usuable condition and just need a little cleaning. The head works great, the plumbing is flawledd and the water foot pumps just keep on pumping. All the wood and teak cleaned up nicely and is in excellent+ condition, the seating and bedding cushions are being sent to the dry cleaners and I am real sure that they will be fine, and the only rason they were sent for cleaning is because they smelled like mildue. all hatches work fine and are in excellent condition. The head liner wasn''t even wet when I got the boat and I think the water didn''t touch them. I walked all over the deck and even jumped all over it and it was as solid as a rock, no weak spots what so ever. By the way, this boat is NOT a Santana 30/30 which is just fine with me. This boat is just the regular Cruiser/Racer standard Santana 30. This model has a lot of wood cabinets and shelfing and drawers and lots of wood trim too and lots of closet space and cabinet space. I really like the quality of craftmanship of the wood work there was no cheap looking wood work and everything was well thought out, strong, and functional and all doors and cupboards were ventilated with a nice looking wicker louvers. The steering is WHEEL. I love wheel steering and there is a nice back-up tiller should it ever be needed. Starboard cockpit locker has a refridgerant condencer mounted in it and a propane tank also and everythink is mounted very sturdy and neat. Deasel fuel tank is behind the engine under the cockpit and toilet wast tank is under port seat in cabin, and water tank is under starboard seat, all tanks are made of hard plastic. Now for the repair report.....

The keel is missing because I believe the bilge area water penatrated the keel bolts in the bilge and weakened the bolts and the wood blocks and also weakened the laminent glass stucture, and that is why this boat lost the keel when it went a ground. The bolts were left in place and just broke in half, which I think is a good thing because if the bolts were in good shape then the keel would not have fell off so easily and I would be dealing with a fractured glass structure. I am lucky because I have a very sound and strong stub left to work with and this will be a VERY EASY repair. The rudder is bent but I will be able to straiten it out and repair it pretty easily. The prop is bent up and the shaft is bent also, but the shaft channel seems to have ZERO dammage, no fractures or broken glass to repair. just need to find a new shaft, I wont need a new prop because I found a brand new on while cleaning out the port locker. ENGINE: I pulled the dip stick out and water spilled out so it looks like I need suggestions on what to do about the engine. Maybe I can take it apart and re build it or something. ELECTRICAL: I will have to replace the electrical junction board (buss board) need suggestions about the electrical. Of course I will need a new ultranator/generator. This is a Volvo MD7 A or B. 13 HP 2 CY. will also need new refridgerant system, need advise on this too, besides it looked like an old system anyway. Thats it. My 500 dollar boat. Its sitting on four boat stands from brownell (brand new ones that cost me 400 dollars) and some cement blocks with 2X4s on top are cradling the keel area. Its located on my Mother in laws 3 acre lot next to Her work shed. I spent 2 days going through everything and cleaning the hell out of it. Later.

10-17-2003 09:04 AM

obiec

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

I have owned a lot of boats and do love a good projuct. it soulds like a grate one. also I think that I would pay more for a boat that even if it had sunk was compleatly up dated and restored, If the person doing the work was competent. The 20 or 30 year old boats that do not have any of the new systems and any new work are just in dier need off a hole lot of atention and money to be spent on them. When you are done you will have a old hull but a new boat. That is worth more to at least me, than and old hull and an old everthing else.

10-17-2003 07:44 AM

mcain

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

FWIW, I personally like to work on boats. I bought a "turnkey" boat, and still have replaced many of the systems--to get more functionality, to upgrade, etc. You have the structural work figured out, with your skills. Wiring and most other jobs are simple, just time-consuming. The rig and sails are nearly new.
Personally, I offer lots of encouragement. I think this is a project with a lot of potential satisfaction and pride built in. When you buy a used boat, say for $22K or whatever, half or more of the life of the various systems is gone. Most people sell a boat when things are about ready to crap out anyway. You will have a virtually new boat, set up the way you want, and you will know it inside and out.
So go for it. You are not looking for a profit or to make a ton of money, and you will undoubtedly not make any money. But you''ll end up with the boat you want, and who can beat $500 for a starting point?

10-16-2003 11:28 AM

sailingfool

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

Also sorry if my comments seems pessimistic, but the work outsatnding for this boat may make for quite a "project", perhaps sort of like how the Boston central artery project became the 14 billion dollar Big Dig. It may still be termed a project, but there''s no other one close to it''s final cost...
New sails is good news and removes one of the potential major expenses, leaving only how many...
FWIW (it''s free...)I again opine my personal observation from experience - the best you should expect from a boat is to actually get what you paid for.

10-16-2003 05:38 AM

Jeff_H

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

I am sorry, I thought that you said the boat in question was a 1980 30 R. The 30R is a very different boat than the later 30/30''s. There was also a Schock Wavelength/ Schockwave 30 that was built around 1980. This was an extremely neat, but fragile design.

The 30/30''s were a more expensive boat with much better sailing capabilities but with an very basic interior that is pretty similar to a J-29. I think that 1982-83 was the first year that the 30/30 was in production. 30/30''s typically sell for somewhere a little over $20K but one that has been would certainly be worth substantially less.

My goal in my earlier post was not discourage you as much as to suggest that you carefully consider the project up front so that you don''t pour a lot of money into the boat only to find that you have spent more time and money than you could afford. Obviously the nearly new sails greatly increase the likelihood of a successful project.

Good luck. Respectfully,
Jeff

10-16-2003 12:09 AM

john232

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

I found out that the boat has new sails as of 2001, and has been up dated with alot of new rigging. and from what I can tell from the photos the boat was well taken care of. Also I haven''t found a Schock 30/30 for less than 22,000.

10-16-2003 12:00 AM

john232

I bought a 30 footer for 500.00.....

Wooo..Wooo..Wooo.. Back off a little . I said this was a project boat. Not some money making scheme. I enjoy restoring old cars and boats from time to time. I could care less if anything but the engine works on this boat. Once I get the structural dammage done I will restore the boat to as original as possible and I may even strenthen the weak areas to my high standards so I have a boat that I can trust and be confident and proud to own and sail. Also, I really do like this design because it has alot of sail area, good deck space, and a decent cabin lay-out, infact it has a much better lay-out than a Jboat in the same size in the same year. This is just a project with a means to an end that involves pleasure and a little club racing. I could use a little encouragement, if that is possible. Thank you very much. John.

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